9. Social Media and Relationships Flashcards
Cues in social media (6)
- Profile descriptions
- Avatars
- Usernames
- Communities
- Comments/likes
- Photos
how does social media help shape sexual identity for sexual minority youth
- Many queer youth → lack of access to role models, information, community
- Marginalization within offline community
stages of coming out ? (6)
- Identity confusion
- Awareness of difference: “my sexual identification is different than other people”
- Identity comparison
- Feeling isolated from what is expected in heteronormative society
- Identity tolerance
- Follows commitment to identity
- Start to seek out members of your community
- Identity acceptance
- Coming out is announced, looking for connections
- Identity pride
- Identifying with broader community
- Concern about pride
- Identity synthesis
- Attempt to integrate sexual identity within overall identity
why do friendship matter (4)
- Provide opportunities to learn about ourselves
- Contribute to identity development
- Provide information about the world
- Provide a buffer and support in times of stress
- When you are in the presence of a friend, you experience less negative experiences of stress!
- High quality friendships are associated with well-being!
what do friendships look like during adolescnece (4)
- Increase in time spent with peers
- First time in development where less time is spent with family and more is spent with friends
- Increase in reliance on peer relationships for self-worth
3 Increase in social comparison
4 Brain changes such that we respond more to social rewards, particularly in the presence of peers- Eg: rewards → winning a reward with friends present = high emotional response, VS. for kids and adults = brain is less activated
what is the third most common place to spend time w firneds
uhnline
What is the nature of online interactions vs. offline? (3)
- Hyper-personal model → more intimacy online
- Cues-filtered-out theories → without the same interpersonal cues as face-to-face interactions, negative impact on intimacy
- May depend on the platform!
REDUCTION HYPOTHESIS
Social displacement → time on social media argued to take time from face-to-face social interactions
- Support from older studies of online interactions
research about social displacement ?
Researchers gave families computers and internet → 2 years later asked about relationships and well-being
FINDINGS
- Decreased communication with family/friends
- Increased feelings on loneliness
BUT online interactions have changed
is this still supported ?
no lol i guess not
STIMULATION HYPOTHESIS
Social media argued to allow for more social interactions, a larger social network, and greater intimacy
what mediates stimulation ?
Asychronicity in response → more interactions
does research support stimulation?
yes only for SOME
research using experience sampling method (6 weeks, 3x per day) Pouwels et al., 2021
ask Adolescents:
- How close to your close friends do you feel right now?
- How much time did you use social media (Instagram, WhatsApp, and Snapchat) in the last hour?
FINDINGS
Between-person effects:
- Those who used more social media overall → greater friendship closeness
what had strongest effects
Within-person effects ?????
When an individual used social media within an hour → very small negative association with friendship closeness
sooooo ?
Large individual variation!
what elsse can u examine
role of individual ..
Rich-get-richer/social enhancement hypothesis:
individuals who have strong social skills, who are comfortable in social settings → benefits of online relationships
- Extraverted individuals → interact more / more high quality interactions online
Social compensation hypothesis
individuals who have challenges in social relationships in real life → benefits of online relationships
- Social anxiety, social cues
- Dont have to worry about immediate response → asynchronicity
- Marginalized identities
what facotrs can the impact of social media on friendships depend on ??
- Individual differences: social skills, gender
- Different platforms
- Multitasking
- Techno-ference
- Type of social media use:
- With close friends or not?
- Active or passive use?
- Age?
what happens when u put a phone on a table ?
- Phone present on table → negative relationship quality
- Phone absent → positive relationship quality
mechanisms of social media ?
- SELF-DISCLOSURE
The sharing of intimate information, feelings, thoughts, emotions - PRACTICE SOCIAL SKILLS
what does self-disclosure allow?
more closeness
- Shown to promote intimacy in offline relationships
- Neurological effects → activate same areas as food and sex
- Same appears to be true in online relationships
what afforadances allow for more disclosure ?
Availability, asynchronicity, anonymity,
can self-disclosure be maladaptive ?
YES
- Excessive reassurance-seeking
- Negative feedback seeking
what social skills can u practice online?
- Cognitive empathy:
- Affective empathy:
study in the forest
11-13 year olds
- Gave test on nonverbal social cues → facial expressions
- Nonverbal scenes → video on people acting things out and asked to identify what is going on
Kids went away to camp → half with phones, half without phones
- Tested nonverbal skills after they returned
FINDINGS ??
Those who went to camp without phones → better at identifying nonverbal social cues
